cereal magazine + the joy of ruined photos

Generally, I can resist a pretty magazine. I am good at this because I'm a blogger, I think - I know that I can get better content on my favourite blogs, but then sometimes, I'm in a train station in Sheffield and the sun is shining and I'm enticed in by pretty pictures in pretty magazines. That's how I came to pick up Cereal. It's one of those magazine that it's in a similar vein to Kinfolk or Oh Comely - lifestyle centric and stunningly shot.  I devoured it on a hot train home, and I can't bare to part with it, the pictures are so pretty.

But when I did arrive home, my mother had been sorting through great crates of photographs and pictures and postcards and all sorts of wonderful little things from her youth, from my youth, from my grandmothers youth. Whilst I love beautifully shot magazines, my heart will have a soft spot for a bad photo.

Over exposed, underexposed, light leaked, or poorly framed - I love a ruined photo. There's something heartwarming about a half recognised face lit by angry red film. I also love just the weird photos that someone took, particularly in film, of a strange building, an odd bit of flooring: something someone chose to capture, because for that instant it was important, but the reasoning has been lost.

This might not make sense to some, but I'm a fan of the extremes of photos, from the beautifully, impeccably shot lifestyle editorials, to the snapshots of long gone family, ruined by a poor photographer. I can't bear to part with any of them; I'm a hoarder.

goodbyes

eileen & anne 

I wanted to say that I felt very sad, this week, that I didn't know you better, Grandma, and I know the distance between our homes was not an excuse. I realised today that I did know you well, in that you helped shape my mum, and you made her into the amazing lady she is today...You were a very interesting woman who I got to know through how your raised my mum and how she raised me (I wouldn't know how to knit if it wasn't for you, or bake, or cook or sew, as these are things she learnt from you). I'll remember your handwriting in my recipe books and the things you knit for us, the jewellery I wear, the handbags I carry, and the memory of you letting me play with your cat figurines every time we visited.. I am glad you're no longer in pain, and are at peace, you were very missed today, and always will be.

x

summer + the stars

Often at night, when I should be sleeping, I find myself leaning out of my window, staring at the stars on the horizon until my vision grows blurry. It's one of those things I love to do at anytime of the year - it's just so much easier in the summer: your fingers aren't freezing off and you can still feel your toes if you stretch out in the slightly damp grass and cup your eyes until you can't see the streetlights. Gradually your eyes adjust to the dark, and you realise that if you let your gaze wander, you can see more than just ursa major and a few planets. 

That all said, there is something to look forward to in the autumn and winter - I have strong memories of sitting camped out in the darkest corner of the garden, wrapped in blankets and hunting out the meteors until I've lost count of how many I've seen (and how many wishes wasted).

I'm pretty in awe of my dad's ability to point out constellations with ease, or tell me what planets I can see in a given month.. It's something I hope that by the time I'm his age, I'll have the same stargazing ease. I tell myself that those nights leaning out my windows and listening to the screech of foxes, or letting the cold and the damp seep into my slippers in the garden, is like my research.

Regular Jewels!

I've wanted to show you these things for a while.. these are my favourite rings, that I wear virtually every day.. and I think they're all beautiful, and completely precious to me.

I made a decision recently to stop wearing awful, cheap jewellery that turned my fingers green and to invest in lovely, good quality pieces that I would be able to wear for a long time, and cherish, and hopefully mean something to me. 

The oldest one is the blue oval, which I got about a year ago now? Maybe less, from a carboot sale. Although this one, and the one on my right hand, made up of triangles of shell and mother-of-pearl, didn't mean a great deal to me, they were beautiful finds, and didn't cost more than £7 put together. The blue one was £5 and is plated silver - with a stone of indeterminate nature, haha. The other was £2, and I think is also silver plated, although it bears no hallmark, which makes me think it isn't. It's some kind of silver metal, at least.

The other two on my ring finger, however, are the most meaningful. (This isn't the best picture of the rings, below, but I apologise for the icky cut on my hand - the pleasures of working with knives, eh?) 

The top one was a 21st gift, half from me, half from my mother, from when I went to Italy. It was about twenty euros, but I think it's a wonderful memento of the trip, and a bit different from like, watches and things people get when they turn twenty-one! It's got these lovely little flower-type details, which I think is beautiful, and it looks so nice next to the other one..

Which has a little story to it. My mum found it whilst cleaning out a cupboard, and remembered that my Gran had given it to her, because she didn't wear it. The ring is very similar to an eternity ring my mum wears already, so she said I should have it. I thought it was lovely piece of costume-jewellery, so I had it on straight away, thinking that it was sad it was so grey and tarnished. But then I bought a silver-cloth, and gave it a little polish and it came all off, and my dad told me that they were sapphires and diamonds! So I was so impressed and have been paranoid about it ever since!

Shortly after writing this post, my mum comes back from a funeral of her aunts, I guess my great-aunt - I met her when I was younger and she was this lovely woman, and I am a quite sad that I didn't know her better. I've kind of made a little resolution to get to know my family better. Anyway, my mum got given some of her jewellery, and she passed on one of them to me - it's absolutely gorgeous, and really unique, take a look;

It has this sort of bow/cross design in the middle and all these swirls around it, and the metal is kind of crimped, which I've never really seen before, and gives it an interesting shine in the light. Unfortunately it's a little bit big for me (it only fits securely on my thumb!) so I'm going to see if I can get it reduced at a shop or something. 

What pieces do you wear every day? Show me, I'd love to see!